Automatic train-stop



E. E. ADAMS AND E. C. BENNETT;

AUTOMATIC T'RAIN STOP.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 21,1 9I9.

L; Patented .May w, 1921-.

` 4 SHEETS-SHEETIl Q w Q y S) @o N A cn l INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

E. E. ADAMS AND E. C. BENNETT.

AuTomATlc TRAIN STOP. APPLICATION lFILED 1ULY,2|, 1919.

1,37'795'5 Patented May 10 w21.

4- SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- TRAIN LINE IN VEN TOR. v

'A TTORNE Y.

E. E` ADAMS AND E. C. BENNETT.

y AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOP. APPLICATION FILED Tum/'21, 1919 '4 SHEETS-SHEET s.

1,37,955 Patented May M), 1921.

, INVENTOR. Y E. dczw B) E. C. 667771627 ATTORNEY.

E. E. ADAMS AND E. C. BENNETT.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOP.

APPLICATION man JULY 21.1919.

1,377,955. Patented May 10,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR.

.E #da rma M5616 efz.

A TTORNE Y.

Ultlllll@ tlplalll retenir ELLIS EDWARD ADAMS AND EDVARD CLAUD'S BENNETT, OF ROANOKE, VIRGINEA.

AUTOMATEC TRAIN-STOP.

Specification or" Letters Patent.

iatented inlay lll, 1923i.,

Application filed July 21, 1919. Seralllo. 312,179.

To all fio/tom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, lllLLis E. DAMs and EDWARD C. lnnnn'rir, citizens et the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of lloanoke and State of Virginia, respectively, have invented new and useful lmprovements in Automatic Train-Stops, of which the tollowing is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to an automatic train stop and has -tor its primary obj ect the provision of an electrically operated means for closing a throttle valve and applying the air b aires in conjunction with other means cooperating with the lirst means for giving visual indications in the :ab of the locomotive ot the condition of the advance block.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple mechanism ifor closing` a throttle lever and upon the throttle lever reaching said closed position7 to open the train line into communication with the atmosphere so as to apply the air brakes of the train.

A further object of the invention is to so construct and arrange the parts that the number oit parts necessary in an apparatus oi this character is materially decreased without sacrificing` the elliciency thereof.

Vil ith these and other objects in view the invention will be better understood from the followingl detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying` drawings, wherein Figure l is a diagrammatic view ot the system.

Fig'. 2 is a. diagrammatic view partly in section oit the mechanism roi' closingthe throttle lever and bleeding' the train line.

Fig. 8 an enlarged sectional view through the air motor showing the piston in position to establish communication between the train line and the atmosphere.

Figs. l and 5y views of the track obstacles.

Fig. d is a sectional view through the electric catch.

Fig. 7 is a. diagrammatic view illustrating how the switch cooperates' with thc recorder.

Fig. l8 is a diagrammatic view of a second form of mechanism coperating` with the throttle lever and setting the air brakes.

Again referring to the drawings illustrating` one of the many forms in which the invention may be constructed, the letter B designates the railroad block while the letter G designates thesemaphore arranged at the junction ont two blocks. A short distance from each semaphore we have arranged a pair of track obstacles l and 2 the former to be known as the caution obstacle and the latter' as the danger l obstacle. lllach obstacle consists of a shalt mounted 'for rotation in bearing` l7 Figs. and 5, and having a crank portion 5 connected to a plunger 6. This plunger 6 is actuated by a solenoid 7 arranged in a circuit 8 including a source of current 9 and opened and closed by the movement of the semaphore, that is to say when the semaphore moves to caution position it will close the circuit ot the obstacle l whereas when the semaphore moves to danger position it will close the circuit or obstacle 2. @ne end ot each shalt 3 has connected thereto weight l() for normally holding the shalt in predetermined position while the other end of the shaift is termed into a plate ll adapted when in active position to be arranged in the path or movement of certain elements on the train. ln the use of my invention it is not necessary to change the throttle lever l2 with the exception o1 providing a pin lil on a dog` or latch 14 against wnicl. acts the cam suri'ace l5 of a slide i6. This slide is connected to the stem l? ot a piston i8 slidably mounted in a cylinder lQ. Comin 'eating with the cylinder l at one side o; ie piston 18 is a pipo 2) passii to the ni `r reservoir et the air ipe 24'? has arranged t? 2l ot any weil known consti ia a connection 22 L n with the plu i 23 ot a solenoid 2li. rllhe cynder is ir l .ided with a bleed port 25 avery small diameter when compare-1l with the diameter o'l" thc pipe 2O so that when the valve 2l is opened air will enter the cylinder and move thc piston to its limit of travel. As soon as the valve 2l is closed air will bleed tlnfongrh the port and allow the piston l@ to be returned with the return of the throttle lever to open position. The advantage ot this construction is that the throttle lever may be moved any required distance and the piston 3.8 will .oe in the proper position to be acted upon by the air for closing the throttle lever.

Also formed in the cylinder is a pair of ports 26 and 27 the latter communicating with the atmosphere while the former communicates with a branch pipe 28 in communication with the main train line 29 of lll@ the usual air brake system. The piston is formed with an extension 30 acting as a slide valve so that when the bypass 3l in the piston does not establish communication between the ports 2G and 27 these ports will be closed thereby preventing escape or" air from the train line when the said bypass of the piston is not positioned over the ports. Attention is called to the tact that under normal conditions the piston 13 is at its limit of travel in the lett hand direction as indicated in lEig. 2, and therefore the throttle leiter is free to move baclr and or'th without actuating the sli le 16 but should the throttle lever be completely opened or partly opened the lever will be thrown to closed position upon air entering the cylinder owing to the Jfact that the piston 13 will travel the required distance. At this point it to be understood that the lever l2 is first unlocked and thereafter the throttle is closed by the movement oli the rod 16.

lt will be understood in this connection that the widened extension oli the rodlG co-acts with the slotted bracket carried by the throttle lever to close the throttle.

Another 'form of' mechanism 'for closing the throttle lever is shown in Fig. 8 consisting ot an air motor having a connectien 6l with the throttle lever. Air under pressure is allowed to pass to the motor by the electrically controlled valve 62. `When the piston G3 of the air motor has traveled a predetermined distance a pipe oli is thrown into communication with the pipe in which the valve 62 is arranged for allowing the air pressure to operate a second motor This motor 66 operates the bleed valve 67 arranged 'to cooperate with au l.-shiped linlr 63. The bleed valve 57 is arranged in connection with the train line 69 so as to bleed air to the atmosphere and thereby reduce the train line pressure tor setingthe airvbrakes under pressure conditions.

y Having described the mechanicaiv elements coperatingwith the throttle lover and putting into motion the air brake apparatus ot the train we will now describe the circuits wheL oy signals will given the engineer and upon a certain signal being disjgilayed the throttle lever will be thrown to closed position and the train line bled so as to apply the air bralre system. Arranged in the cab et the locomotive are a yellow electric bulb 32, green bulb 33 and red bulb 34, designating respectively clean cautiom and danger The bulb is arranged in an open circuit including a conductor 35 that receives current `from a genera-tor 36. A ranged in said open circuit is a manually operated double pole 1unile switch 37. .il branch circuitp including conductors 38 also reeds current rrom the generator to the said open circuit and has arranged therein a double pole lrniiie switch 39 and thus it will be seen that it will be necessary to open both switches 37 and 39 to prevent current passing from the generator to the open circuit including` conductors 35. The object of this arrangement is that the engineer as well as the lireman must open a switch betere the supply ci current to the circuit is cut oil. The open circuit including the conductors 35 is interrupted at the point 36X and arrange l a this point is a pair ot spaced contacts arranged to be bridged by blade or arm Lil when the same is struclr by a traclr obstacle. ln order to hold the arin 4l in a position to bridge the contacts el() when the arm has been struck by an obstacle, we have provided an electric latch in the iiorm orn a solenoid lll?) in which is mounted a spring pressed plunger 42, Fig. G, arranged to extend under the arm ll when the solenoid dll is energized. This solenoid l-b is arranged in a circuit including a conductor t3 that has one terminal connected to the contact lllarranged contiguous to 'he contacts 40 so as to be engaged when the arm ll is thrown about its pivot 45. Comprised in this conductor d3 is a thermostatic type oi switch 46 which in one of the Jforms may be constructed of two strips ot dissimilar material having diilcrent degrees of eX- pansion so as to move out oli engagement with the contact a7 when the strips are heated due to the passage of current to the solenoid all. is tar as we have proceeded itwill be seen that when one or" the track obstacles have been thrown to active position due to the movement of the semaphore blade C the arm all will engage the obstacle in the passage ci the train and thereby be thrown about its pivot and electrically connecting the contacts el() and contact elllthereby closing the circuit including the conductors 35, sounding an audible signal 35X and illuminating the green lamp 33 and allowing current to pass through the solenoid -lflb lor lcrcing the plunger in position to prevent return movement oiE the arm el. l:When the arm is raised by the obstacle ll, the plunger 4t2 assumes aposition under the arm ll as shown in Fig. (l. The arm el will be retained in this position a predetermined degree oi time until the thermostatic blade ,4l-G moves to a position to open the conductor 43 whereupon the solenoid all will be denergipied and the spring pressed plunger r2 allowed to return to normal position, releasing the arm /ll and permitting'the same to gravitate to normal position. At this point it will be understood that after the lapse of a short period of time the thermostatic blade 46 will operate automatically to close the gap'in the conductor 43, and thereby reset tlie apparatus. The bulb 32 is arranged in a circuit including a conductor 48 one terminal of which is connected to one conductor 35 of the circuit beiiore described while the other terminal is connected to the other conductor of the said circuit and thus the bulb 82 continuously illuminated unless interrupted in a manner now to be described. Arranged in the circuit including the conductor e8 is a switch 49 normally held in closed position by a spring 50. This switch is arranged to be opened by a magnet l arranged in the circuit includingaconductor that has one terminal connected to one oi"- thc conductors 35 oi the before mentioned open circuit while its other terminal is connected to one of the contacts 54X. Arranged in a circuit including a conductor 52 is a red bulb known as danger.7 This conductor 52X is interrupted at the point 53 lsimilarly to the circuit 35 and arranged at this point are three contacts 54X adapted to be electrically connected by another arm 55 when it strikes its associated track obstacle. An electric latch 55 similar to the one just described is arranged to retain the arm 55 in circuit closing position and is arranged to operate upon the switch blade being thrown to a position to close the circuit including the conductors 52 and 52X. Tapped onto the conductor 52X is a conductor 57 connected to the solenoid 2d. To complete our invention, we place adjacent to each switch 37 and 39 a recorder 58 the operating arm 59 of which extends over the switch so as to be operated in the movement ot the switch.

The operation of the system is as follows llpon the semaphore blade C moving to caution position it will close circuit 8 and thereby energize the solenoid of track Aobstacle l which throws the same to active position so that upon a train approaching the semaphore C the switch arm il will strike the obstacle and be thrown about its pivot so as to electrically connect the contacts l() and al. W hen this takes place the caution sional 33 will be energized and current will be free to pass through the electric catch l-J for preventing return movement of the switch arm Lil. Thus the engineer is given an audible signal and a visible signal as to the condition of the semaphore blade and the bloik that it protects and a'lter these signals 33 and 35X have been actuated for a predetermined interval of time the thermostatic switch i6 will be properly heated and owing to its construction will bow or bend in a direction to break the circuit to the catch lib thereby allowing the switch arm 4l to gravitate to normal position. Should the semaphore blade C move to danger position instead ot caution the circuit 8X will be closed thereby setting into action the track obstacle 2. The train in passing the track obstacle 2 which is now in active position will bring the arin 55 into engagement with the blade ll thereby throwing the switch arm 55 about its pivot and bridging the contacts in the same manner as described with relation to the contacts of the caution circuit. As soon as the circuit inrluding the conductor 52 is closed a solenoid 5l arranged in said circuit operates a. switch to break the continuity of the 'circuit in which the normally energized clear signa-l 32 is arranged. W'hen the danger circuit is closed the solenoid 24 is energized which retracts its core 23 and thereby opens the valve 2l. l/Vhen the valve 21 is opened air passes trom a main reservoir to the cylinder i9 where it will act upon the piston 'i8 and close the throttle Valve. Upon travel ot the piston 18 a predetermined distance the ports and 27 will be thrown into communication with each other -for bleeding a certain amount or air from the train line which immediately sets the air brake into operation.

lit will be apparent from the foregoing that when either the switch 37 or the switch 39 is closed the branch circuit including the conductors 38 will be connected with the open circuit including the conductors 35. Therefore when the arm al electrically connects the contacts e0 and all the course of the current will be from one pole of the generator through the lower conductor through the lower or Steed conductor 35, and then by way of the inner contact 40 to the arm il, and then by way of the outer contact l0 and the outer or upper conductor 35 to the upper or outer conductor 38 and back to the other pole orp the generator. At the same time current will pass from the lower or feed conductor 35 through the inner contact 4l() and the arm al to the contact 44 and irom thence to solenoid all and then through the conductor 439 the thermostatic switch i6 and the upper or return contact 35 to the last mentioned pole oi the generator 5G. Thus so long as the contacts il() are electrically ronnected the filament of the lamp 33 will be caused to glow7 and the bell will be sounded. lt will be remembered here that the arm ai is permitted after the lapse of a short period oi' time to gravitate from and thereby interruptthe connection between the contacts 40. lWhen the arm is moved to electrically connect the contacts 5e?, the course of the current from one pole `of the generator 36 will be through the lower or iced conductor 35, then by conductor 80 to the electromagne't 5l, then by conductor 52 to the outer contact 54X then by the arm 55 to the intermediate contact 5a* then by wire 52X to the filament of the lamp 34, and then by concuctor 8l to the upper or return conductor 35. At the same time current will pass from the conductor 52X through the conductor 57 to the solenoid 2a and then Vthat the train is approaching.

Vthe inner contact 54X and the arm 55 and then by way or' the conductor 52X, lamp 34 and conductor 8l to the return conductor 35 and back 'to the other pole of the generator 36. It will also be apparent that when either of the switches 37 or 39 is closed, and the arms 4l and 55 are positioned as shown in F ig. l, the course of the currentfrom one pole of .the generator 36 will be through the lower or feed conductor 35 through a conductor 85 to the filament of the lamp 82, and from the said filament of the lamp 32 the current will pass through a conductor 86, the switch 49 and a conductor 48 to the upper or return conductor 35 through the latter to the opposite pole on the generator 36. During this passage of the current the lamp 32 will be caused to glow and the persons in authority will be apprised orp the tact that the system is in good working order. It will be noticed, however, that when the arm 55 electrically connects the contacts 54X the magnet 51 will be energized and by attracting the switch 49 will interrupt the connection between the conductors 86 and 48, so that the lamp 32 will be eX- tinguished.

`From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing it will be seen thatwe have provided a simple inexpensive apparatus for applying the air brakes of a train and closing the throttle valve upon the train entering a danger block and besides give visible signals in the cab of the locomotive as to the position of the semaphore blade of the block It is ot' course to be understood that this invention may be constructed in various manners and parts associated in other relations and therefore we do not desire to be limited in any manner except as set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

What we claim is L'An automatic train stop system comprising semaphore controlled track, obstacles, train carried signal circuits to be closed by said obstacles another signal circuit controlled by one of theiirst mentioned circuits, and manually operated switches for opening all of said first mentioned circuits,

and a recordeil operated in opening each of said switches.

2. An automatic train stop system comprising a semaphore controlled track obstacle, a train carried signal circuit closed by said obstacle when the latter is moved to danger position, an electric device iterV holding the circuit closed, a recorder, and a v switch for rendering the device inactive and arranged when moved to operate the recorder. Y

8. An automatic train stop system comprising a track device, a generator, a switch arm arranged to be moved by said device when the latter is moved to active position, a signal circuit arranged to receive current from the generator, a pair of spaced contacts in said circuit and arranged to be bridged upon movement of the arm, and an electric latch Jor holding the arm in circuit closed position, the circuit of said latch being controlled by said arm.

4. An automatic train stop system comprising a track device, a generator, a switch arm arranged to be moved by said device, when the latter is moved to active position, a signal circuit arranged to receive current from the generator, a pair of spaced contactsin said circuit and arranged to be bridged upon movement of the arm, and an electric latch for holding the arm in circuit closed position, the circuit of said latch being controlled by said arm, and a manually operated switch for breaking the electric latch circuit and thereby release the arm and also 'to break the signal circuit.

5. An automatic train stop system comprising a track device, a generator, a switch arm arranged to be moved by said device, when the latter is moved to active position, a signal circuit arranged to receive current from the generator, a pair of spaced contacts in said circuit and arranged to be bridged upon movement of the arm, an electric latch for holding the arm in circuit closed position, the circuit of said latch being controlled by said arm, a manually operated switch ior breaking the electric latch circuit, and thereby release the arm and also to break the signal circuit, and means rendered active upon .closing one of the signal circuits for closing the throttle valve and applying the air brakes of the train.

In testimony whereof we afliX our signatures.

ELLIS EDWARD ADAMS. EDWARD CLAUDIUS BENNETT. 

